Childhood Scenes from A Different Future
by Lady Sabine of Macayhill
Summary: A series of one-shots of scenes from Beth and Alex Romanov's childhood from my fic A Different Future. Written because the other fic did not include much about Alex/Harry Potter's childhood with his adoptive family.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: As I had previously received reviews on my fic _A Different Future_ commenting on the fact that there wasn't that much written about Harry/Alex's years growing up with his adopted family, I have decided to write a series of one shots of scenes from his childhood.

Disclaimer for entire fic: Harry Potter belongs to the wonderful author J.K. Rowling and I am merely playing in her universe.

"Mummy, is it time to go now?" Alex asked, looking up at his mother excitedly. His twin sister, Beth, stood next to him, also excited. Their friend Ron was turning five tomorrow, and the twins' mother had promised to take them to Diagon Alley today so that they could buy their friend a birthday present.

In exchange for putting away their toys when they were done playing and helping their older cousins set the table at dinner (Alex's and Beth's job was putting out the utensils, since there was no fear of them breaking those), they each got five sickles a week pocket money. Normally they would spend the money on the occasional sweet, or to buy a new toy or picture book, but every so often they would save the money to buy birthday or Christmas presents for friends and family.

"In a few minutes," Ana said patiently. "We have to put on our coats and hats, since it's cold outside. Go grab your coats."

Alex and Beth cheered and ran to grab their coats from their hooks on the wall. Ana helped them put on their coats and hats, made sure their shoes were tied, and then led them to the living room so that they could Floo over to Diagon Alley. She held their hands so that they wouldn't get lost, and seconds later, they tumbled out the fireplace in the main room of the Leaky Cauldron. The three of them said hello to Tom, the bartender, and then headed to the back to enter Diagon Alley.

"Have you decided what you wanted to give Ron for his birthday, Beth and Alex?" Ana asked.

"I want to give him a new teddy bear," said Beth. "Fred an' George turned his old one to a spider 'cause he ax'dently broke their toy broom. Aunt Molly turned it back to a teddy, but Ron don't like it now."

"The word is 'accidentally'," Ana corrected, enunciating the word carefully so that Beth could hear how it was properly pronounced. "And it's 'doesn't like it now', not 'don't like it now'. What about you, Alex? What do you want to give Ron?"

Alex replied, "Ice cream!"

"Honey, you don't give ice cream as a birthday present," Ana said gently, smiling. "How about a box of sweets or a book, instead?"

Alex thought for a moment. "Can I get both? Ron likes chock-late, an' I saw a book 'bout a boy playin' Quidditch in the bookstore."

"If you have enough money, then you can, Alex." She led them to Flourish and Blotts, where Alex found the picture book he had mentioned. He took it to the counter, where the clerk smiled at him and told him that it cost two Sickles and five Knuts.

Alex took out his pouch of money from his pocket and clambered up a chair next to the counter so he could empty the pouch. Eight Sickles and twelve Knuts fell on top of the counter and he carefully counted out the two Sickles and five knuts and pushed them over to the clerk. As the clerk put the money in the register, Alex put the rest of his money back in his pouch. "You're really good at counting," said the clerk.

Alex grinned back at her. "Mummy taught me to count all the way to one hundred! I can read the ABC's, too!"

"That's wonderful!" exclaimed the clerk. "You're a very smart boy."

Alex nodded. "I am! Thank you for the comp-comp-sayin' nice stuff 'bout me. Bye-bye!" He took the book and climbed down from the chair. His mother led him and his sister out of the bookstore and took him down to the south end of Diagon Alley, where the sweets shop and toy store was located. Beth picked out a teddy bear that was wearing Gryffindor robes and holding a pretend wand in the toy store, and took it to the counter to pay for it. The clerk told her that the teddy cost two sickles and three knuts, and like Alex, Beth poured out the coins her money pouch and counted out the correct amount.

Next door at the sweets shop, Alex and Beth decided to buy the chocolate together, so they picked out a box of chocolate frogs to give to Ron. The clerk told them that the box cost four Sickles. The two exchanged looks and put their heads together to figure out how much money each of them should give, telling the clerk that they wanted to figure it out for themselves. After a few seconds, Alex remembered, "Daddy said two plus two is four! So I give two Sickles an' you give two."

Beth nodded and they each took out two Sickles from their pouches and handed it to the clerk. Ana put the box of chocolate frogs in her bag and said, "All right, let's go now. We can stop and say hello to Granny Ilsa at the potions store, and then go home to wrap the presents."

"'Kay, Mummy," said Beth. "Oh! An' we need to make Ron birthday cards! Can you help us write 'Happy Birthday'?"

"Yes, dear," said Ana, smiling down at her children. They walked out the sweets shop and to Petrov's Potions. Granny Ilsa was in the middle of brewing a potion, but she was able to pause long enough to greet her grandchildren, find out why they were visiting Diagon Alley, and hand them each a fruit drop out of the jar of the fruit drops that she brewed every two weeks and kept on hand to give to her grandchildren whenever they came by. The two thanked her and then Ana Flooed home with them.

While she wrapped up the gifts, Alex and Beth took out paper and crayons and each started drawing a birthday card for Ron. Their mother wrote "Happy Birthday!" on each, but they were able to write their own names and 'Dear Ron', having learned to do so shortly after their fourth birthdays. Beth drew a cake and balloons on hers, which were a little lopsided but otherwise looked fine. Alex drew Ron flying on a broom, along with his sister and friends (even though their friend Neville was only allowed on a toy broom that went no higher than two feet in the air and not a training broom). Being only four years old, Alex's picture was rather messy, but was recognizable enough as three girls and three boys flying.

Once they were done, Ana helped them tie the cards to their individual presents and then sent them to Uncle Remus, who would be giving them their daily lesson of learning how to read and practice writing the alphabet. At the moment, Beth and Alex were able to read short words like 'cat' and 'hop', and they were slowly working their way through a series of picture books by a Muggle writer named Dr. Seuss, ones like _The Cat in the Hat_ and _Yertle the Turtle_.

"What would you like to read today?" asked Remus, smiling at the twins as they skipped into the living room.

"_Green Eggs and Ham_!" Alex exclaimed, and Beth nodded in agreement next to him.

"All right, _Green Eggs and Ham_ it is," said Remus, taking the book out of the stack of Dr. Seuss books in front of him. "Sit down, please." He handed the book to Beth and continued, "You can read first, Beth."

"'Kay, Uncle Remmy," said Beth, opening the book to the first page. She slowly began reading, "'I am Sam. Sam I am. That Sam-I-am. That Sam-I-am! I do not like that Sam-I-am."

After a few more pages, in which Remus helped her with the words 'would' and 'anywhere', she was asked to stop reading and to hand the book to Alex.

He took the book from her and started reading where she left off. "'W-would you like them in a h-house? Would you like them with a m-mouse? I do not like them in a house. I do not like them with a mouse.'" A few pages later, Alex stopped and handed the book back to Beth, who continued reading about Sam-I-am asking 'could you, would you, on a train?' and 'would you, could you, in the dark?' Alex then read the last few pages, where the the person that refused to eat green eggs and ham finally agreed to try them and discovered that he liked them.

"Very good, Alex and Beth," Remus praised when they were done. "Now it's time for you to practice writing the alphabet." He handed them each a pencil and the notebooks they were using to practice writing in.

Fifteen minutes later, he ended the writing session and told the two that their daily lesson was over and they could go play until dinnertime. Beth and Alex thanked Remus for the lesson and the two then skipped off to Beth's room to build with their wooden blocks.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: This one-shot further explains Alex's memory of his first encounter with a boggart, as mentioned in Chapter 34, "A Boggart in the Wardrobe", of _A Different Future_. I apologize if the dialogue for Alex and Beth in this chapter and the previous one aren't completely accurate. The last time I was around young children was years ago, and I don't remember clearly how they talk. If the dialogue is a bit advanced, then we can chalk it up as Alex and Beth being rather precocious children. After all, at the age of four, they could count to one hundred, write their names, their friends' names, and the alphabet, and were learning to read, even if it was easy things like Dr. Seuss's books.

Alex shivered at the scary story Fred and George was telling him, Ron, Beth, Neville, Ginny, David, and Luna. Ron had been allowed to host his first ever sleepover for his seventh birthday, and all his friends had been invited and were able to attend (though Neville's grandmother had been reluctant at first to let him go.) It had gotten to the point of the sleepover where scary stories were normally told. The group of kids had started out with stories of their own, but as they were only five and six (other than Ron), they didn't know that many, and half of them weren't all that scary if heard by someone older. Therefore, they asked Ron's older twin brothers to tell some.

"The little boy finished brushing his teeth and went inside his bedroom to get into bed," Fred was saying. "But as soon as he got close to his bed, a monster jumped out from underneath it!"

"The monster was very hairy," continued George. "It also had one giant eye on its face, sharp, menacing fangs, drool coming out of its mouth, and the worst bad breath imaginable. Even worse than smelly socks and rotting garbage combined."

Ginny and Luna screwed up their faces in disgust at the description of the bad breath, while Beth and Ron winced at the monster's appearance and Neville and David let out frightened whimpers. Alex shivered again and grabbed his sister's hand.

"The boy started screaming in fright, but the monster waved a hairy paw and used magic to silence him," Fred said. "It then growled, 'You can scream all you like, but your mummy and daddy won't be able to hear you. Nobody will come to save you! Now, I think I'll drag you to my cave and eat you!'"

"The little boy screamed again, but because of the spell on him, no sound came out," said George. "The monster grabbed him and pulled him to under the bed, where a hole appeared on the floor. They fell down to the monster's cave, where the monster tied up the boy and built a fire so it could cook him."

At this point, Neville and Alex let out a small shriek. Fred ignored it and continued, "Once the boy was cooked, the monster cut him up to pieces and ate him."

"That's 'gusting!" Beth declared. "Why would a monster want to eat little boy, anyway?"

"They just do," responded George. "That's what monsters eat, little boys and girls. Not grown-ups, 'cause they can fight back and stuff."

"That was a really scary story," Ron said. "Can you tell us 'nother one?"

Fred and George exchanged devilish grins and launched into another story, this one about a scary monster that was hiding in a closet and attacked a little girl and tore her body to pieces while she was still alive. Neville, David, and Beth actually screamed at the end, prompting Mrs. Weasley to come into the living room to find out what was going on. When she heard that the scream was because of scary stories, she scolded the twins for scaring the younger kids and sent them up to their room. After that, she had everyone get into their sleeping bags and cots for bed, since it was getting late.

The next morning, after breakfast, Beth and Alex returned home. "How was the sleepover, Alex and Beth?" their father asked.

"It was really fun," Alex said. "Fred and George told us two scary stories. One had a monster under a bed. It grabbed a boy and cooked and ate him. The other had a monster hiding in a closet. It tore a girl's body to pieces! Beth and Nev screamed. Aunt Molly heard and came in. She yelled at Fred and George for telling us scary stories and had us all go to bed."

"It took me and Neville a long time to fall asleep," said Beth. "We were still a little scared. Ginny told us it was just a story and not real, so finally we could sleep. Can me and Alex have a sleepover next?"

Stephan and Ana exchanged looks, then the former said, "I don't see why not. We could do that for your birthday, like Ron did with his."

"Goody!" exclaimed Alex and Beth, clapping their hands with delight.

"Let's go invite our friends!" Alex added.

"Hold on there, Alex," said Ana. "It's March, and your and Beth's birthday isn't until August. Do you know how many months away that is?"

Alex counted on his finger, then answered, "It's five months, Mummy."

"Exactly," said Ana. "And when did Ron invite you to his birthday sleepover?"

"In February," Beth replied. "That was last month."

"So maybe you should wait until July, the month before your birthdays, before you start inviting your friends," Ana pointed out. "But you can tell them that we said you two can have a sleepover for your birthdays the next time you go play with them, okay?"

"Okay, Mummy," said Beth and Alex. They then went upstairs to put their sleeping bags and overnight bags away.

That night, Alex was thinking about the scary monsters that Fred and George had described as he was getting for bed. Even though he knew that it was all stories and not real, he couldn't help thinking how scary it was, and hoping that he wouldn't ever have to see one. Monsters were still on his mind as he left the bathroom and entered his bedroom for his daily bedtime story. At the moment, he and his parents (they alternated nights and between him and Beth) were in the middle of reading _James and the Giant Peach_, by Muggle children's writer Roald Dahl. They had just finished the chapter about James using the thread that Miss Spider and the Silkworm produced to lasso seagulls (lured in by the Earthworm) into carrying the giant peach across the ocean (and thereby avoid the sharks).

Alex removed _James and the Giant Peach_ from his bookcase and headed over to sit on his bed, where his father (it was his turn to read with him tonight) would join him shortly. However, as soon as he reached the bed, a monster, matching the description of the one from the Weasley twins' stories, appeared in front of him. A growl and the words, "I'm going to eat you!" came from its mouth.

Alex dropped his book and let out a piercing scream. His father burst into the room, asking what was going on. His mother and sister arrived a couple of seconds later, with Remus right behind them.

Beth screamed as soon as she spotted the monster. "It's not real, Beth," said Stephan, whisking his daughter out of the room in order to calm her down.

Ana knelt and took Alex into her arms, who started crying hysterically on her shoulder. Remus approached the monster, which instantly turned into a silvery orb hanging in midair. "Just as I suspected," he said. "It's a boggart. Alex, you don't have to be so scared. It's not a real monster. A boggart is just a creature that takes on the form of what you worst fear. For you, it's a scary monster, so that's what it turned into."

Alex stopped crying long enough to turn around and look at the boggart-turned-moon and Remus. "It's not a real monster, Uncle Remmy?"

"Yes," said Remus gently. "See? The monster turned into my worst fear, so that proves it's a boggart."

Alex hesitantly moved in front of Remus and it turned back into the monster. Alex screamed again and his mother pulled him away. The monster turned back into the silvery orb and Remus said, "Calm down, Alex. I'm going to get rid of the boggart and it won't be able to scare you again."

"NO!" shouted Alex. "I want Aunt Maria! Or Uncle Toby! They're Aurors. It's their job to fight scary stuff."

"But honey, Uncle Remus is just as able to get rid of the boggart as Aunt Maria and Uncle Toby," Ana said gently. "He has the knowledge and skill to fight bad creatures."

"I don't care! Aunt Maria and Uncle Toby fight scary stuff 'most all the time! They've got the 'perience! The boggart really scared me by turning into a monster and I want one of them to help me." Alex started crying again.

"All right, I'll get Aunt Maria or Uncle Toby to come over and get rid of the boggart for you, Alex," said Ana with a sigh. "Will you let Uncle Remus take care of you while I call your aunt and uncle?"

Alex nodded, so Ana slipped out of the room to Firecall her sister and brother-in-law while Remus took him in his arms and managed to dry his tears.

Five minutes later, Aunt Maria came into the bedroom, her wand out and ready. "So, there's a boggart that's scaring my nephew?" she asked. "Don't worry, Alex, I can take care of it. I'll show you."

She strode over to the boggart, which turned to something Alex couldn't see, except that he thought it might be a body. Before he could move to see what it was, Aunt Maria pointed her wand at it and said, "_Riddikulus_!" A large teddy bear wearing the most ridiculous and silly outfit appeared in front of her, and Alex couldn't help but let some giggles escape upon seeing it, which soon turned to outright laughter. Aunt Maria and Remus joined in and the teddy bear-boggart exploded, burst into a thousand tiny wisps of smoke, and then disappeared.

"See, it's gone now," said Aunt Maria kindly. "Monsters aren't real, Alex. They don't hide under beds or in closets. The only thing is that there are boggarts who can look like scary monsters if people are scared if that. Now, sit down with me and I'll tell you how to fight a boggart so that you no longer have to be scared of them."

"Okay, Aunt Maria," said Alex obediently, sitting down on his bed with his aunt.

"So Uncle Remus told you what a boggart is, right?"

"Uh-huh. It's a creature that turns into what you most fear."

"Well, boggarts like to hide in dark spaces," said Aunt Maria. "That's why this one was hiding under your bed."

"'Cause it's dark under my bed," Alex said, nodding. "But why did it have to choose my bed?"

"I don't know, Alex," answered Aunt Maria. "Maybe when the boggart came into the house, the space under your bed was the closest dark place it found. Anyway, all you have to do is think of something funny to turn the boggart into. Then you point your wand at it and say '_Riddikulus_'. The scary thing then gets turned into the funny thing. Boggarts don't like laughter, and if you laugh at it, it gets destroyed."

"Why don't they like laughter, Aunt Maria?" Alex demanded.

"It's because boggarts like to scare people," Aunt Maria responded. "Having people be frightened of it is better than having people think it's funny. Lucky for witches and wizards, we have a spell that allows us to turn it to something funny that we can laugh at."

"So next time if I see a boggart, I just have to think of something funny and say '_Riddikulus_'?"

"Yes, Alex," said Aunt Maria. "But I can do a spell to keep boggarts away from your room until you are old enough to have a wand. When you have a wand, then you can do the spell and get rid of boggarts yourself."

Alex shook his head. "You don't have to do the spell. I'm a big boy now, and I won't be scared anymore. If I see a scary monster, I'll know it's a boggart and have Mummy and Daddy or Uncle Remus help me get rid of it."

"All right, my brave little warrior," said Aunt Maria with a smile. "Are you okay now?"

"Uh-huh, Aunt Maria. I'm not scared now."

"Good. Now, I have to go home and read David his bedtime story. Good-night, Alex."

"Good-night, Aunt Maria," said Alex. "Can you tell David good-night, too?"

Aunt Maria said she would and left the room. Stephan came back in and after making sure that Alex was fine and still wanted to read, the two settled on the bed and started reading the next chapter in _James and the Giant Peach_. When they finished, Stephan tucked Alex into bed and kissed him on the forehead. "Good-night, Alex. Have good dreams, and don't let the doxies bite."

Alex giggled. "But we don't have doxies in the house, Daddy. And if we did, we'd use the spray that Granny Ilsa makes to get rid of them."

"You know I'm just joking," said Stephan. "Now please go to sleep. Good-night."

"Good-night, Daddy." Alex snuggled further under the covers as Stephan turned off the light and left the room.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: This one-shot is about the prank that Alex and Beth played that resulted in the one and only time they were spanked as punishment. _Muter_ is Yiddish for mother.

Alex carefully placed his toothbrush and toothpaste in his blue travel container and then stuck it into his overnight bag. It was soon followed by his pajamas, a change of clothes, and his stuffed dragon that had a spell on it that allowed it to flap its wings. Once a month he and sister were allowed to spend the night at one of his grandparents' homes, and this month it was Granny Ilsa and Granddad Vladek's turn.

"I'm all packed!" Alex called, sticking his head out of his bedroom door.

Remus came out of his bedroom. "Then why don't you get Beth and we can Floo over to the potions store now, Alex."

Alex nodded and picked up his green overnight bag. "Come on Beth, let's go!"

Beth came out of her bedroom, holding her purple overnight bag. "You don't need to yell, Alex. I'm not deaf." The two followed Remus down to the living room and they Flooed to the potions shop. Their mother, who was working at the store today, greeted them and sent them upstairs to put their bags away. Alex went to the bedroom that had been his Uncle Niko's when he was a kid, while Beth went to their mother's old room.

When they came back downstairs, Granny Ilsa greeted them with hugs. "How have you been, dears?"

"We're still good," said Beth. "Nothing's changed since when you saw us last night at dinner."

"Granny, what are we doing now?" Alex asked.

"Well, first I get you each a biscuit to eat," she said, taking them to the kitchen where the biscuit tin was. "Then you can help me brew some fruit drops. The jar is getting low, and it is the time that I refill it."

"Goody!" exclaimed Alex. He liked it whenever he got to help his grandmother brew fruit drops, not only because he got to eat one once they were done, but also because it was the only time he ever got to help with brewing something. While he was learning the names of the ingredients used in potions and what they looked like, he was still too young to actually learn how to brew, though he was allowed to watch his mother and grandmother make potions.

After having a glass of milk and some biscuits, Alex and Beth followed Granny Ilsa down to the workroom. She had set up the cauldron that she only used to make fruit drops in, because she didn't want to risk any contamination with other potions, even if the cauldrons were thoroughly scrubbed out after each use. "Beth, you can pour in the cup of water. Alex, could you please measure out two cups of sugar? You can pour it in once the water's hot."

Once that was done, Granny Ilsa added some corn syrup and had Alex stir, while Beth gathered the small bottles of fruit extract. After adding in some cream of tartar, Granny Ilsa poured the liquid into four small pans. Alex and Beth added a few drops of fruit extract in each pan, strawberry, orange, cherry, and lemon. The three of them stirred until the fruit extract was completely mixed in, and then Granny Ilsa poured the contents of the pans into the candy molds to cool and harden.

After that, Granny Ilsa cleaned up the work area and went back to a potion she had been brewing, one that had needed to rest for an hour. Alex and Beth washed their hands and went upstairs to the living room, where Remus read to them from a book of Muggle fairy tales. An hour later, the twins were allowed to each have one of the fruit drops, but no more, as it was time for dinner to be made. When their cousins showed up, all the kids got together and set the table, and then the Petrov-Romanov clan sat down to eat, along with Remus and Fiona McGilray, the other family tutor.

"Mum, Ivan can't have dessert tonight," Aunt Sarah said. "So don't give him any."

"What did you do, Ivan?" asked Granny Ilsa, peering down at her oldest grandson.

"Er, I may have dumped out the sugar bowl and put salt in it, _Bubbe_," Ivan admitted sheepishly. "_Muter_ didn't like it when she drank her coffee and found it salty instead of sweet."

Granddad Vladek chuckled. "Your father did a similar prank when he was your age. He switched the salt and pepper shakers, so when I was seasoning a pot of stew, I ended up putting in pepper instead of salt. Luckily I hadn't stirred the pot before I noticed what happened, so I was able to siphon off most of the pepper."

"Well, at least the prank was a harmless one, and other than ending up with a salty cup of coffee, it was pretty funny," said Aunt Sarah. "Maybe the Weasley twins are rubbing off on you, Ivan, if you're playing pranks."

"Pranks are funny, _Muter_," said Ivan. "Well, as long as nobody gets hurt by it."

Alex started wondering if there was a prank of his own that he could do. Whenever Ivan or the Weasley twins pulled a prank, people generally found it funny, even though they were usually also scolded for it and sometimes receive a punishment like no dessert or an earlier bedtime. Alex decided to talk it over with Beth later, and focused on finishing his dinner.

After the dishes had been washed and put away and the rest of the family had left, Alex dragged his sister into the room he was staying in. "Ivan's prank gave me the idea to do a prank of our own," he said. "Got any ideas for one, Beth?"

"We're not going to do the same thing Ivan did," said Beth. "Maybe we could move around the stuff in the supply cupboard?"

Alex thought for a minute, then shook his head. "Granny and Mummy would get mad that we did that and make us put everything back where it was. I know! We could write new labels and stick them on the jars and shelves."

"Ooh, I like that!" said Beth enthusiastically. "I'll go get the labels and you can get some pens."

The two spent the rest of the evening writing down the names of all the potions and ingredients they could remember on the labels. Normally they went to bed at half past eight, but they were allowed to stay up until nine o'clock on Friday and Saturdays and when visiting their grandparents. So at nine, Granny Ilsa knocked on the door, reminding them that it was bedtime. Alex hastily hid the labels underneath the bed and he and Beth went to the bathroom to brush their teeth. After that, Granddad Vladek read them a story and tucked them into bed.

Once Alex heard his grandparents going to bed, he got out of bed, took the labels out, and snuck over to Beth's room. "Let's go put up the labels," he hissed.

After waiting a couple of minutes to make sure that their grandparents weren't going to leave their room, the two snuck downstairs. The supply cupboard was locked, but there were some shelves with ingredients in the workroom, so they stuck labels on all the jars they could reach, even dragging a chair over and climbing on it to reach the higher shelves. After that, they went to the storeroom where the finished potions were kept.

"Rats! It's locked," said Beth, trying the door and unable to open it. "Now what?"

Alex made a face, then glared at the locked door. "I wish Granny Ilsa didn't have to lock it up. Maybe what we did with the stuff in the workroom is enough and-" He cut off as there was a clicking noise and the door to the storeroom swung open."

"Wow, I think you just did some magic and unlocked the door!" Beth exclaimed in a whisper.

"I guess I really wanted the door to be open," said Alex, staring at the open door. Once he recovered, he said, "Okay, let's put the labels on." The two stuck on the remaining labels on all the shelves that they could reach. Once they were done, they shut the door, turned off the light, and snuck back upstairs, stifling giggles at their prank.

The next morning, at breakfast, Granddad Vladek asked, "What's so funny, Beth and Alex?"

"Nothing, Granddad," Alex said, suppressing a giggle. "It's a surprise."

Granddad Vladek raised a brow, but didn't comment further. After breakfast, he went to work, while the twins washed the dishes and Granny Ilsa went to get the shop open for the day. An hour later, an irate Ana marched into the living room, where Beth and Alex were playing, one of the mislabeled bottles in her hand.

"Elisabeth Ilse Romanov! Alexander Jacob Romanov! Did you mislabel this bottle of wormwood as flobberworm mucus? Which you've spelled with only one 'b' instead of two, by the way. And did you mislabel the other ingredients in the workroom?"

Alex and Beth exchanged looks, realizing that they were in a lot of trouble. The one and only time their mother had used their full names was when Alex had thrown a temper tantrum (in Alex's case) and when Beth had refused to come right away when called (in Beth's case). "Um, we might have, Mummy," said Alex.

Granny Ilsa came into the room, also looking angry. "It looks like they also mislabeled the shelves in the storeroom. Not all of them, but certainly the ones they could reach. I don't understand how they did that, though. I was sure I locked the door. The supply cupboard was definitely locked."

"Alex used his magic and opened the door," Beth explained. "We didn't like it that the door was locked."

"Why would you two do such a naughty thing?" Ana demanded.

"We just wanted to play a prank," said Alex in a small voice. "Pranks are funny."

"Not this one," said Granny Ilsa in a serious voice. "Did you know that wormwood is poisonous? It can make people sick or even kill them if not used properly. If your mother and I didn't know the difference between wormwood and flobberworm mucus, we could have put the wrong ingredient in a potion and hurt someone. Also, some potions can blow up if you put the wrong things in it. Remember how your finger hurt when you accidentally touched the hot stove, Beth? Getting burned by a potion hurts even more. And you could get cut by a piece of the cauldron that exploded, which is going to hurt more than when you fell and scraped your knee, Alex."

"Oh," said Beth. "We didn't know!"

Alex nodded frantically. "I thought it would be funny! I didn't know the prank could be bad! We're sorry!"

"That still doesn't excuse what you did, Beth and Alex," said Ana. "I'm sorry, but because what you did was very bad, Granny Ilsa and I are going to have to give you two a spanking."

Beth and Alex exchanged looks again. They had never been spanked before, as their punishments for previous bad behavior had consisted of time-outs, no dessert, and going to bed half an hour early. The fact they were going to be spanked now told them how serious their so-called prank was.

Ana took Alex, while Granny Ilsa took Beth. "We're sorry that we have to do this, but perhaps this will teach you not to mess around when it comes to potions," said Granny Ilsa, sitting on the armchair and setting Beth across her lap.

Ana sat down on the couch and placed Alex across her lap. She raised her hand and gave him ten swats on his bottom, hard enough to sting, but not enough to cause serious pain or damage. Granny Ilsa did the same to Beth. The twins were crying by the time the spankings were over.

"All right, dear, it's over," said Ana gently, setting Alex on his feet and hugging him. "I'm sorry I had to spank you and I hope you never do anything this naughty again. I still love you."

Alex wiped his eyes and said, "I love you too, Mummy. I'm really sorry for what I did."

Granny Ilsa was comforting Beth, who also wiped her eyes and apologized. "You're forgiven, Beth and Alex," said Granny Ilsa. "We know that you didn't know that putting wrong labels was a bad thing to do, and that you'll never do anything like this again. Come help your mother and me take off the wrong labels and then you can go back to your playing."

Alex and Beth sniffled, but stopped crying and followed their mother and grandmother downstairs. After helping take off the wrong labels, they went back upstairs, but they didn't resume their play, still thinking over what they had done. It took their mother coming up to remind them that they had their daily lessons with Remus, with lunch after that, before being jolted out their thoughts. The two grabbed their overnight bags and Flooed home.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: This one-shot in Alex and Beth's childhood is going to be rather sad. You have been warned.

It was two weeks after Alex's and Beth's tenth birthdays and they, along with their friends Ron, Ginny, and Neville and their cousin David were walking up the hill to the Lovegood home to see if Luna could play with them. They always liked visiting the Lovegoods, since their house looked something like a giant chess rook, also known as a castle, and they had a garden full of interesting or unique plants. Further down there was a brook, which had magical fish-like creatures called plimpies. Whenever Mr. Lovegood wasn't busy with _The Quibbler_, he was willing to tell stories about the strange animals he believed in. Mrs. Lovegood worked on spell experimentation, trying to develop new spells, and she would tell them about her work during her free time.

Ron knocked on the door when they arrived, and a minute later, Mrs. Lovegood answered. "Hello, everyone," she said with a smile.

"Hello, Aunt Pandora," they all chorused.

"Is Luna able to play with us today?" Ginny added.

"Yes she is," said Mrs. Lovegood. "Luna! Your friends are here!" Luna came running downstairs from her room, and her mother continued, "I'm going to be busy with a new experiment today, and Xeno is working on the September issue of _The Quibbler_. So I suggest you all play outside. I'll be taking a break at three o'clock, so you can all come in then for a snack, all right?"

The seven children nodded and they all decided to go down to the brook and pretend that they were explorers. Alex was in the middle of pretending that the plimpy he had caught was a giant sea monster he had fought with the aid of his friends, when Remus and Ana appeared, looking extremely worried.

"Luna, you need to come with me at once," Ana said. "Something happened to your mother. Grandmum Lise is tending to her, but it's bad."

"What happened to Aunt Pandora?" asked Neville, eyes wide as Ana and Luna ran towards the house.

"From what I gather, there was an accident when she was working on her spell experimentation," Remus said soberly.

"But Aunt Pandora has never had an accident before!" Alex protested. "She's really good at her job, like how Granny and Mum are at potion-brewing."

"Accidents can happen at any job," Remus said gently. "You know your mother and grandmother have had ruined potions before."

"But Aunt Pandora is going to be all right, isn't she?" David asked. "Grandmum Lise will heal her, like when she healed me of colds and the chicken pox."

"I hope so," replied Remus. "What happened to Aunt Pandora is more serious than a cold or the chicken pox."

"Maybe we should pray for her recovery," Beth suggested. "Aunt Sarah prays all the time." The others nodded and decided to do as she suggested.

Half an hour later, Grandmum Lise came out to them, tears in her eyes. "I'm really sorry, but Pandora Lovegood has -" Her voice broke and she couldn't finish.

"You don't mean Aunt Pandora is dead?" Ron gasped, looking horrified.

Grandmum Lise nodded. "I tried to heal her, but there was nothing I could do except lessen her pain so that she could say her good-byes to Luna and Xeno. Magical injuries and illnesses are much harder to heal than non-magical ones."

Ginny and Beth started crying. Alex kicked a rock into the brook, then shouted, "It's not fair! Aunt Pandora shouldn't have died! We prayed for her recovery and it wasn't answered! God totally sucks and - and is just as bad as the Devil!" Before any of them could properly react to this outburst, he stormed off towards the Lovegood home, tears of grief and anger streaming down his face.

His mother grabbed him when he burst into the house. "Hold it, Alex. What do you think you're doing?"

"I want to see Aunt Pandora, and then Floo home. God sucks for not answering our prayers!" Something else occurred to Alex and he wailed, "And what will Luna do without her mum? How can anyone live without a mother? I couldn't if something happened to you!"

"Calm down, Alex," Ana said. "Honey, there are billions of people on this planet, and God doesn't have the time to answer everyone's prayers. I know Aunt Pandora's death is very sad, but you know magic can't fix everything. As for Luna, she will eventually get over losing her mother, and someday they will meet again in Heaven or whatever afterlife is out there when we die. All right? Furthermore, while Luna may not have her own mother now, she still has friends whose mothers are willing to care for her and do the things that her own mother can't do now."

"I guess," said Alex reluctantly, wiping his eyes. "But having aunts is not the same as a mother."

"I know that, dear, but please remember that not everyone is able to have a mother to love and care for them. You know that Neville has a grandmother to love and care for him, since his parents can't do it because Death Eaters attacked them and they're in St. Mungo's."

"I suppose being able to have parents that love and care for you, no matter how long, is better than having them unable to do so," Alex admitted. "But it's still not fair! Luna should still have her mum!"

Ana sighed. "Alex, come with me." She led the way to the room where Mrs. Lovegood did her experiments. She was lying on a soft pouf of material that Grandmum Lise had conjured, a pair of Sickles placed over her eyes. Mr. Lovegood was kneeling next to her, sobbing and muttering incoherently. Luna was sitting on a nearby chair, gazing sadly at her mother's body, but there were no tears in her pale silvery grey eyes.

"Hello, Alex," said Luna, looking up when her friend entered.

"Luna, how can you stand it? If anything happened to my mum, I'd be crying my eyes out and -"

"Mum has gone off to the afterlife, but she can still see us and watch over us," Luna interrupted. "I'm sad that she has gone and I will miss her dreadfully, but I know that we will meet again one day. Besides, you know that nobody can live forever. I guess it was just Mum's time to go."

"Yes, but we all prayed that Aunt Pandora would heal from her accident! God didn't answer our prayers at all! He sucks and -"

"Alex, God can't answer every prayer," Luna said firmly. "It's nice that you and our other friends were praying, but only so much can be done."

"That's what Mum said," said Alex. "If you're saying the same thing, Luna, then I guess I should believe it. I'm sorry for getting mad at you, God."

Luna got up and patted Alex on his arm. "We'll get through this, Alex. I still have Daddy, and he still has me."

Alex nodded, and then he looked at Mrs. Lovegood. "Aunt Pandora, I'm sorry that you had to die, and I'll miss you. But I hope you're watching over us in the afterlife, and invent lots of new spells while you're there." He broke down in tears again, and after hugging Luna, asked his mother to take him home.

Three days later, there was a funeral. An older wizard that acted as a pastor of sorts conducted the ceremony. After that, several people got up and said a few words. Luna's friends all got up together, and they said, speaking as one, "We're really sorry that Aunt Pandora had to leave us. She was a great mother to Luna, and was a great aunt to us, even though she wasn't really related to us. We miss you lots, but we hope you're happy in the afterlife, and we will see you again someday."

As they were the last ones to speak, when they were done, the coffin was lowered into the grave. Luna and her friends threw flowers on top of the coffin, and then Mr. Lovegood, Stephan, and Uncle Niko magically covered it with dirt and turf. The gravestone was placed at the head, and then Luna placed a brass box, engraved with the words "Pandora's Box" (a reference to the Greek myth that Mrs. Lovegood got her name from) on the lid, in front of it. Her friends then filled the box with flowers.

After the funeral, they went to the Lovegood home. For the time being, Mrs. Weasley, Ana, Grandmum Lise, and Gran Augusta (Neville's grandmother) were taking turns making sure that Luna and her father were recovering and seeing to it that they ate. The Weasleys and the Romanov-Petrov clan had brought food, and everyone was now scattered around the house, eating and talking of their memories of Pandora Lovegood. Luna sat in her bedroom with her friends, reminiscing.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: Since nothing really happens for Alex/Harry and Beth between Mrs. Lovegood's death and their getting their Hogwarts letters, I have decided to go back to when they were eight and write a couple of scenes of their life then.

It was Wednesday and Ron, Neville, Ginny, Luna, and David had Flooed over in the morning to Alex and Beth's home for their weekly Potions lesson. Today's lesson had focused on memorizing the appearance and properties of five potion ingredients, and then they had helped with the preparation of the ingredients for a simple potion to cure boils. Now the lesson was over and the seven of them were having lunch and looking forward to the afternoon of play they had. At the moment, they had finished going over what they learned, and were in the midst of discussing the books they had read.

A month ago, Granny Ilsa and Granddad Vladek had brought over a box full of books by Muggle author Enid Blyton, which Ana, Aunt Maria, and Uncle Niko had read when they were children, for the seven to read as part of their reading lessons and for fun. Enid Blyton's books had proved to be entertaining, especially her _Secret Seven_ and _Famous Five_ series, and all of them had often secretly stayed up past their bedtime to finish whichever one of her books they'd been reading that day.

"I wish we could go around having adventures and solving mysteries," Ginny said wistfully. "It sounds like fun."

David nodded. "The camping trips that the family goes on are fun, but we don't have the kind of adventures that the Famous Five do when they're on holiday."

"Ooh, I have an idea!" exclaimed Luna. "We could pretend to be the Secret Seven Society and make up adventures of our own. There's seven of us."

"That's a great idea, Luna!" seconded Neville. "But who are going to be the Peter and Janet of our group, Alex and Beth, or Ron and Ginny?"

They exchanged looks and Ron said, "I think Alex and Beth would fit better. You're already like our leader, Alex, and Beth, you'd be a good second."

"But you're great at strategy, Ron," Alex protested. "You always beat me in chess, and you come up with the plans when we pretend to be Aurors catching criminals and stuff like that. You should be in charge."

Ron shook his head, and Beth pointed out, "Yes, Ron comes up with the strategy, but you're the one that leads things, Alex."

"Fine," said Alex, giving in. "I'll be the Peter of our group, and Beth will be Janet. But what about the other Secret Seven members?"

"Oh right," said David. "Luna and Ginny are nothing like Pam and Barbara."

"I would hope so!" exclaimed Ginny. "We don't giggle lots, and we don't think going to parties is more important than being with our friends."

"And I'm not going to be Jack," Ron declared. "Sure, Jack was best friends with Peter the way I am with Alex, but Jack's sister Susie wasn't allowed to join the Society. Ginny wouldn't like that."

Ginny nodded vehemently and Beth said, "Look, we don't need to be exactly like the Secret Seven Society in the books. We couldn't anyway, since they're Muggles and we're magical. We'll just pretend to be a group like them and make up our adventures and mysteries to solve."

"How about we pretend that we're going to stop some bad guys from stealing a valuable magical, what's the word, artifact, after lunch?" Neville suggested.

The others agreed to the idea and started planning out how their imaginary adventure would turn out.

"Hold on there," Remus interjected. "Jonas is going to want to join once he hears about this. Keep in mind he is only two months younger than Ginny."

"Well, he can't, Uncle Remus," said Alex. "He hasn't read the books yet, since his reading lessons are different from ours. Besides, it's the 'Secret_ Seven_', not the 'Excellent Eight' or something like that. I don't like not allowing Jonas to join the way Peter didn't let Susie join, but it has to be done. Once he's read the books, though, he can help out with some of our pretend adventures though."

The others agreed with him, and once lunch was over, the newly formed 'Secret Seven' took Beth and Alex's bin of toys and dress-up materials to the living room to act out their planned adventure. It was decided that one of Beth's dolls would stand in as the bad guy that wanted the magical artifact, an amulet (which was represented by one of the play necklaces). Alex's stuffed lion stood for the thief that the bad guy had hired to steal the 'amulet', and then the group acted out how they stumbled upon the plot. It moved on to them eventually foiling the theft and saving the day, which mainly involved them making up nonsense words for real spells and waving the pretend wands that Uncle Tobias had made around in order to capture the thief and bad guy for the Aurors to arrest.

After the whole imaginary adventure, the seven went to the kitchen for drinks and snacks that Ana supplied, incidentally fulfilling the role that Peter and Janet's mother played in the _Secret Seven_ books, which was supporting the Society and providing them with snacks for their meetings. "I hope you had fun?" she asked. "I wish it had been convenient for me to pretend to be part of the Secret Seven or Famous Five when I was your age. But my group of friends wasn't big enough to be the Secret Seven, and we had one too many to be the Famous Five. And by the time I befriended Sarah at Hogwarts, she, Niko, Stephan, and I were a little to old to imagine being the Famous Five, not to mention we didn't have a dog to stand in as the fifth member."

"That's too bad, Mummy," Beth said. "But we had fun, and we're going to continue pretending to be the Secret Seven and make up more adventures."

"Good for you guys," said Ana with a smile. The seven finished their snack and then went back to the living room to come up with more adventures and mysteries that they could pretend to have.


End file.
